Rubber-tire-setting machine.



PATENTED DEC. 1, 1903.

E. R. LANPHER. RUBBER TIRE SETTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1901.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

No. 745,358. PATENTBD DEC. 1, 1903..-

Y E. R. LANPHER.

RUBBER TIRE SETTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7. 1901.

N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

m: NORRIS PETERS cu. wofauj'nou WASHINQTON. u. c:

No. 745,358. PATENTED DEC. 1, 1903.

B. R. LANPHER. RUBBER TIRE SETTING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION rum) NOV. 7, 1901.

' a SHEETS-SHEET 3.

N0 MODEL.

Ins-annals PETERS w, PHOTO'UTHOU wnsnmamn, D. c.

UNITED STAT S Patented December 1, 1905;

PATE T QFFICE:

RUBBER-TIRE-SETTING MACHINE.

SPECIFIGA'IION forming part of Letters Patent No. 745,358, dated December 1, 1902;. Applicationfiled November 7, 1901. Serial No. 81,415. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

I Be it known that I, EARL R. LANPHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oarthage, in the county of Jasper and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Rubber-Tire-Setting Machine, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is animproved machine for setting wire-cored rubber tires on channeled vehicle-wheels and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a rubber-tire-setting machine embodying my invention, showing the parts of the same in the position assumed when the wire cores are crossed between the ends of the tire and engaged by the clamps of the drawing-arms and while drawing and tightening the wire cores to compress the tire on and around the rim of the wheel before uniting the ends of the wire cores between the ends of the rubber tire. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the positions assumed by the drawing-arms and clamps when the ends of the wire cores have been out prior to being chamfered and showing the pull-wires attached to the end portions of the rubber tire.

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the endsof the wire cores united and the ends of the rubber tire secured to the ,jaws by pull-wires prior to the operation of the machine in drawing the ends of the rubber tire together. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one of the drawing-arms and the clamps with which the same is provided. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view showing a portion of the operating-screw, one of the drawing-arms, to which the screw is connected by a traveling nu t, and the clamps on the said drawing-arm. Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken on a plane indicated by the line a a of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a detail elevation of one of the compressiontongs. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view of one of the pull-wires.

In the embodiment of my invention I provide a suitable supporting frame or table 1, which has a longitudinal central guideway 22. In the said guideway is disposed an adjustable supporting-plate 3, on the upper side of which are bolted cross-bars 4, the ends of which project beyond the sides of the guideway 2 and bear on the top of the table or frame, and hence the supporting-plate is sup ported on the table or frame and is adapted to be moved longitudinally thereon. A screwthreaded spindle 5 extends upwardly from the adjustable supporting-plate and is carried thereby. On the said screw-threaded spin dle is an adjustable supporting-cone 6, which is interiorly screw-threaded to engage the said spindle and is hence adapted to be vertically adjusted thereon. The wheel a on which a rubber tire is to be placed is placed on the spindle 5 with the inner end of its hub bearing on the cone 6. The latter being adjustable supports the wheel at the required elevation. I also provide a washer 7 to bear on the upper end of the wheel-hub and a compression-nut 8 to engage the washer therewith and hold the wheel firmly on the spindle.

A pair of bars 9, which are disposed one above the other at a suitable distance apart, are secured transverselyunder one end of the table or frame 1 by bolts 10. A pairof drawing-arms 11 pass between and operate between the said bars 9, which form guidingsupports therefor. The inner ends of the said drawing-arms are pivotally bolted under the "table or frame, as at 12, and their outer ends, which project beyond one end of the table or frame, are upturned, as at 13, and then inturned, as at 14:, to form heads. On the head of each of the drawing-arms are a pair of clamps 15 16, which are disposed side by side and are preferably of the form shown. The inner ends of the clamps 15 project beyond the inner ends of the clamps 16. In the form of my invention here shown the head 14 of each drawing-arm comprises the lower member of each of the clamps 15 16 carried thereby. An intermediate member for each clamp 15 same and the head 14, and an intermediate member for each of the clamps 16 is formed by a plate 16 placed between said'clamp and said head. The projecting end of each clamp 15 is provided with a pair of transverse grooves 15", formed in the contacting sides of the sections of the clamp. In the form of my invention here shown, which is especially provided with a pair of core-wires, each clamp 16 is provided with a pair of grooves 16,dis-

is formed by a plate 15 disposed between the ICO adapted for setting rubber tires which are p posed transversely therein, the said grooves being formed in the contacting sides of the sections of the said clamp. Each clamp 15 has similar grooves 15, which lead to said grooves 16, but are of greater diameter than said grooves 16. Each clamp 15 is further provided with a set-screw 15 and each-clamp 16 has asimilar set-screw 16. A suitable wrench (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4:) is provided for turning the set-screws of the respective clamps.

Between the bars 9, near the sides of the frame or table 1, are bolted the inner ends of a pair of standards 18. The outer ends of the said standards project upwardly and outwardly from the table or frame 1 and are forked or bifurcated, as at 19. An operatingscrew 20 is provided near its ends with annular shoulders 21, which are engaged by the forks of the standards 18. Said standards support said screw, as will be understood, and prevent the said screw from moving endwise when the same is rotated. The said operating-screw is provided with right and left hand screw-threads, which proceed, respectively, from the central portion of the said screw nearly to the ends thereof. At one end of the said operating-screw is a crank wheel or handle 22, by means of which it may be readily rotated. Traveling nuts 23 engage, respectively, the right and left hand threaded portions of the operating-screw and are respectively pivotally connected to the heads of the drawingarms, as at 2 1, or in any other suitable manner. From the foregoing it will be understood that when the operating-screw 20 is rotated the heads of the drawing-arms will be simultaneously moved either toward or from each other, according to the direction in which the operating-screw is turned.

The operation of my invention is as follows: Initially the drawing-arms are moved by the operating-screw until the heads of the said arms are somewhat apart. The tire is then bent in approximately circular form to dispose the ends thereof opposite each other, the core-wires being disposed in the grooves 15*, crossed between the ends of the tire, and the end portions of the wires passed through the guide-grooves 15 16 in the said clamps 15 16. The set-screws 15 are then tightened sufficiently to retain the wires in the grooves 15, yet permit them to slip therein, and the ends of the wires are then pulled to draw the ends of the rubber tire against the outer sides of the projecting ends of the clamps 15. The setscrews 16 are then tightened to cause the wires to be firmly gripped by the clamps 16. The drawing arms are then moved from each other in opposite directions by turning the operating-screw,thereby pushing the end portions of the rubber tire back from the ends of the wire, hence compressing the rubber tire in the direction of its length. The wheel the clamps 15 16, the rubber tire is placed in the channel around the rim thereof on the side of the wheel opposite the clamps and secured thereto at a distance of about a foot from each end of the tire by a pair of com pression-tongs b of suitable construction, one of which is shown in Fig. 7. The wheel is then shifted by moving the supporting-plate 3 or by pushing on the wheel to cause the latter to move from the clamps, the end p0rtions of the rubber tire being thus disengaged from the channeled rim of the wheel, as shown in Fig. 2. The operating-screw is then again turned to move the drawing-arms somewhat farther apart, hence somewhat further compressing the end portions of the rubber tire between the clamps 15 and the tongs b. The set-screws 15 are then tightened, thereby causing the clamps 15 to grip the wires at points immediately beyond the ends of the rubber tire, the set-screws 16 are loosened to enable the end portions of the wires to slip in the grooves in the clamps 16, and the operatingscrew is then turned to move the drawingarms toward each other, thereby drawing the wires and tightening the tire around the wheel, as will be understood. The wires are then cut at the required points, the operating-screws turned to open the drawing-arms sufficiently to enable the ends of the wires to be chamfered, and pull-wires e, for apurpose hereinafter described and bent in the-form shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings, are placed under the end portions of the rubber tire. The operatingscrew is then turned to draw the drawing-arms towardeach other, thus overlapping the chamfered ends of the core-wires, and the same are then brazed, thereby uniting the ends of the respective core-wires. The latter are then released from the clamps 15 by loosening the set-screws 15. It will be understood that the ends of the rubber tire at this stage of the procedure are several inches apart and that it is necessary to pull them together on the brazed portions of the core-wires to complete the operation of setting the tire. Each of the pull-wires e is first doubled to form a loop f, then bent at right angles to form the portions 9, and then again bent to form the'loops h. The pull-wires are attached to the end portions of the tire,the latter lying in the loopsf h, and the portions or intermediate loops 9 of said pull-wires are secured in the clamps 15, the end portions of the tire lying across the outer ends of said clamps. The operating-screw-is then turned to cause the draw-arms to approach each other, thereby causing the clamps 15, through the wirese, to pull the ends of the tire together on the core-wires. The pull-wires e are then removed from the clamps and from the tire and the operation of setting the latter is complete.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The apparatus for manipulating rubber tires, comprising means for clamping both ends of the retaining-wire and drawing the same, and means movable with the clamping means for simultaneously compressing both ends of the rubber of the tire in opposite directions away from the ends of the retainingwire.

2. The apparatus for manipulating rubber members in opposite directions to thereby draw and tighten the core-wire and at the same time compress both ends of the rubber of the tire in opposite directions away from the ends of the wire.

3. In a rubber-tire-setting machine, the combination of a pair of drawing members, means to move said drawing members toward or from each othersimultaneously, and a pair of clamps on each of said drawing members, one clamp of each pair projecting beyond the other, so that one clamp of each member may grasp one end of the core-wire and the other clamp on the same member may grasp the other end of the wire, substantially as described.

4; In a rubber-tire-setting machine, the combination of a pair of drawing members, a right and left hand threaded screw, bearings for the latter to prevent said screw from moving endwise, traveling nuts on said screw, connected to said drawing members, to simultaneously move said drawing members in opposite directions when said screw is turned, and a pair of clamps on each of said drawing members, one clamp of each pair projecting beyond the other so that one clam p of each member may grasp one end of the core-wire and the other clamp on the same member may grasp the other end of the wire, substantially as described.

5. In a rubbertire -setting machine, the combination of a pair of drawing members, means to move said drawing members toward or from each other, and a pair of clamps on each of said drawing members, one clamp of each pair projecting at oneend beyond the other, said clamps having transverse wireengaging grooves near their inner ends, and the longer clamp of each pair having also a transverse guide-groove which communicates with the wire-engaging groove of the adjacent clamp, for the purpose set forth, substantially as described.

6. In a rubber-tire-setting machine, the combination of a supporting-frame, having movable bearings, a right and left hand threaded screw mounted in said bearings, and

movable therewith in a direction at right wires thereof, and a shiftable wheel-support,

mounted on said supporting-frame, and movable toward and from said drawing members, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claimv the foregoing as my own I have hereto aftixed my signature in j the presence of two witnesses.

EARL RLLANPI'IERp Witnesses:

S. J. OHITWooD, BAIRD HAUGHAWOUT, Jr. 

